Thursday, 28 June 2012

I feel a little topsy turvy today as I'm beginning my first ever swim suit sewing project and it's currently 10 degrees outside! We have a holiday to Bali coming up very soon so I'm determined to get it finished asap.

After searching endlessly through online stores for a 50's inspired swim suit, I just couldn't find one that seemed to me wearable (without bodily parts spilling out at inappropriate times) or affordable (less than $300AU).

So off I then went in search of a 50's inspired swim suit sewing pattern. Again it was difficult until I stumbled upon this beauty:

Mrs Depew very sensibly suggests making a muslin for this one so here I am starting out with a not so subtle shade of green. I'm even considering using bra cups and/or underwire in this toile.... something I've not tried before but there's nothing like jumping in the deep end to stretch the brain cells! Sewing stretch material is a challenge but something I'm willing to try if I end up with a gorgeous vintage style swim suit. Wish me luck!

Thursday, 21 June 2012

Here is the first installment of a three part series on the craft weekend that has now become a heart warming, soul lightening, fabulous part of my year. Sew It Together. I love these gals.

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Friday I arrived as bright and early as a sparrow's fluffer at Canberra airport to be greeted with a lovely fresh sub zero temperature outside. Nice! I love the cold though so it was no worry to me.

The lovely Posie picked myself and other crafty gals up in her Black Kidnapping Vehicle (thanks Posie!) and gave us a lovely tour of downtown and thereabouts of Canberra. I must say that Canberra hasn't changed all that much since I was there last in Grade 6 of primary school. The suburbs and city are so spread out that it all has a lovely country feel to it. We made it to the YHA in the city and checked in. I met up with my SIT buddy Megan of EdanRose with whom I had the pleasure of sharing a room last year. This year we even got to share a bed! More on that later.

Off our little group went to check out downtown Canberra. The YHA is so conveniently situated between all of our destinations that it didn't take long to get anywhere. Good choice of accommodation to whoever chose it! We all met up for the first time of the weekend at the Crowne Plaza and lots of hugs and squeals and awkward "I don't know you but I know all about you" moments were shared in the lobby. I got my first sneak peek at some craftiness when I spotted these belonging to Judy (correct me if I'm wrong??):

Then the beautifully omnipotent Sheridan arrived as did the mini bus to take us on our Friday Afternoon Shopping Trip. We filled that little bus and like last year, some of us knew each other and there was a good mix of newbies too. Lots of chatting and getting to know you talk. Even snack bags that Sheridan and her crew has put together for us! Our first stop was Addicted to Fabric - a big shop full of fabric loveliness. I kept myself restrained compared to last year and only drooled over the fabrics. It felt quite odd being in a lovely craft shop and not purchasing. Very odd....

Next stop was Bison ceramics. A lot of the gals in our bus went a bit bonkers over this gorgeous pottery. Again, nothing was purchased by me. Odd.But I was giddy with the colour and pattern in this room. Subtle and
powerful all at once.

Our final bus trip destination for the evening, and perhaps the most jolly
of the day, was the gorgeous Shop Handmade.
A shop with so many handmade goodies that I kept on oohing and aaahing the
whole way round that big space. There was a lovely little section toward the
back where Sheridan had organised for us to snack on Macarons (Macaroons if
you're a Frankston gal like me) and champagne. It was a lovely way to relax,
chat with friends and do a spot of shopping. Again me = no shopping. By this
stage I was wondering if I had a brain malfunction occurring.

The sweet Kylie
finally arrived and by that time the entertainment had
started. We were all so happy to see Kylie as we thought she'd gotten lost
along the way! Then it was off to dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant and back
to the room for some fabric adoration and then into bed. Unfortunately Megan
and I had to rug up with beanies and jumpers as pyjama accessories as the
heating wasn't working in our YHA room.... not a jolly thing during Winter in
Canberra!

Stay tuned.....Coming soon, more photos and hijincks from Day 2 of SIT 2012
Canberra!!

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

I'm back and still wistful about the lovely weekend I have just enjoyed in Canberra with many lovely crafty, bloggy friends. Life is definitely busy at the moment and keeps rolling on, no matter how concerted my efforts are to enjoy and stretch out a happy weekend. I aim to blog about SIT 2012 very soon.

Not wanting to be deliberately secret squirrel but still needing to get it all out of my head (hence the 4am wake up and 5am blog post), I've got some major decisions to make this week and I'm definitely struggling with the 'too nice' side of my personality. The people pleaser side. The always say yes side.

How do you deal with putting yourself first but still wanting to make sure that the other person/s are happy too? It's a big thing to be a grown up and put yourself first and I'm definitely still learning on how to do that effectively. I could rave on about girls and our societal brainwashing of them in that they must be 'nice' and 'do the right thing' all the time. But it's too early in the morning even for me for that topic....

So instead I'll share with you a photo of my gorgeous gal and I that I took the other week to record the loss of her two front teeth. Too cute!